No rain for Jacktown parade
The winning float in this year's Jacktown Fair Parade was presented by Phillip Prevost Jr.
Fire trucks enter the gates of the Jacktown Fairgrounds during the annual Jacktown Fair Parade Tuesday.
The directors of the Richhill Agricultural Society, who served as grand marshals of the Jacktown Fair Parade, open the gates as the parade enters the fairgrounds.
The West Greene High School Marching Band participates in the annual Jacktown Fair Parade Tuesday.
JACKTOWN – Skies began to clear just in time Tuesday evening for the start of the annual Jacktown Fair Parade and the beginning of the celebration for the fair’s 150th anniversary.
A heavy rainstorm passed through Jacktown about a half hour before the parade’s start, creating talk the parade might be delayed until the rain subsided.
But once the last few drops fell, people began to line the main street of Wind Ridge to take in the floats, fire trucks and horse-drawn wagons that formed the parade lineup.
Melissa Tedrow and her two children were among those waiting for the start of the parade and like many, she was no stranger to the annual fair.
Tedrow, who grew up in Nineveh and now lives near Wind Ridge, said she has always come to the Jacktown Fair. “I was always here when I was younger, but then I took a hiatus,” she said. Work and other things kept her away for a time.
“Now I’m here again with my kids, we came back,” she said.
Tedrow said she likes the fair which has remained “still pretty family oriented.” At the fair, she also gets a chance to see many of her friends from high school. “I see everyone I went to high school with. It’s like a high school reunion.”
This year, 105 units were registered to participate in the annual parade. Serving as the parade grand marshals were the 15 directors of the Richhill Agricultural Society, which sponsors the fair.
The parade went well and only a few of the entries didn’t show, said Marcia Sonneborn, parade chairman. “It stopped raining just before the parade,” she said, “so we did very well.”
The rain “didn’t hurt us,” said Walter “Buck” Burns, president of the Richhill Agricultural Society. Everything seemed to be going well, he said. He also predicted a good year at the fair, with nice weather for the rest of the week.
This year is a special year for the fair as it celebrates its 150th anniversary.
To commemorate the anniversary, the fair is selling a coin marking the occasion and has other items such as hats and T-shirts emblazoned with the 150th anniversary logo.
Charles “Bud” Behm, who at 89 is the oldest fair director, said the anniversary speaks to the dedication of those who put on the fair each and every year.
“They are dedicated to this. All these fair board members are dedicated,” he said. All have worked hard and freely given of their time and even on occasion have thrown in a little money just to keep the fair going, he said.
Behm has only missed one Jacktown Fair, and that was during World War II when he was in a ship in Italy waiting to be transported to Japan.
Behm said he is optimistic the fair will continue. “With the people we have right now, and the offspring of some of the directors, I think it will go on,” he said.
Today’s fair will feature youth night with free rides for kids 14 and younger thanks to First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Greene County.
The evening will include a food eating contest at 7 p.m. at the midway stage; Tuff Truck and Tuff UTV event at 8 p.m. at the lower grandstand; the first round of the Jacktown Fair Idol Contest at 8 p.m. at the upper grandstand; and music by Slim Lehart at 8:30 p.m. at the midway stage.